Mathematics in Society and History: Sociological Inquiries

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Springer Science & Business Media, Nov 30, 2001 - Education - 202 pages
This is the first book by a sociologist devoted exclusively to a general sociology of mathematics. The author provides examples of different ways of thinking about mathematics sociologically. The survey of mathematical traditions covers ancient China, the Arabic-Islamic world, India, and Europe. Following the leads of classical social theorists such as Emile Durkheim, Restivo develops the idea that mathematical concepts and ideas are collective representations, and that it is mathematical communities that create mathematics, not individual mathematicians. The implications of the sociology of mathematics, and especially of pure mathematics, for a sociology of mind are also explored. In general, the author's objective is to explore, conjecture, suggest, and stimulate in order to introduce the sociological perspective on mathematics, and to broaden and deepen the still narrow, shallow path that today carries the sociology of mathematics.
This book will interest specialists in the philosophy, history, and sociology of mathematics, persons interested in mathematics education, students of science and society, and people interested in current developments in the social and cultural analysis of science and mathematics.

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Contents

IV
3
V
10
VI
21
VII
23
VIII
35
X
47
XI
55
XII
61
XVI
97
XVII
99
XVIII
129
XIX
149
XX
177
XXI
179
XXII
181
XXIII
189

XIII
89
XIV
91
XV
94

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